Exchange heads divided on block trading

The debate about block trading in the US was rekindled last
week. Exchange executives and market participants aired their
views on the subject following the publication of a report by
three Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) economists.
The report, which studied block trades in FTSE 100 futures
traded on Euronext Liffe, did not support the view that block
trading fragments markets or impairs price discovery.

The report concluded, "Our findings, although preliminary?
are generally consistent with arguments advanced by proponents
of block trading".

Liffe's deputy ceo, John Foyle, welcomed the findings and
stated that they mirrored the exchange's own market data. He
argued that while block trading inevitably reduced transparency
to some extent, in this case, "transparency isn't
everything".